Learn More About Loans, Banking, Fraud Prevention & More
Learn More About Loans, Banking, Fraud Prevention & More
Banking on Knowledge: For those you leave behind
Article Categories: Articles
Posted on Tuesday, March 9, 2021
funeral flowers and bank logo

By Simone Elder, Commercial & Ag Loan Officer, Western State Bank of Leoti

As the saying goes, nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. Since I’m not a tax advisor, I can’t give you much advice about paying taxes (or not.) I’m not an expert on death, but know firsthand how difficult grief is to handle when it’s unexpected. I want to urge you to consider some ways that you can make your inevitable passing easier on those you leave behind.

  1. If you don’t have a joint owner on your account, consider adding a beneficiary or Payable on Death (POD) to your account. This eases the transfer of funds to your beneficiary.

  2. Additional authorized signers on your account are not the same thing as a joint owner. Their access to your account ceases if you (the account owner) die.

  3. A bank will honor the POD designation over a will that may be in place, so be sure that your POD and your most recent will reflect your wishes. If you don’t have a will nor a named beneficiary, your family may find themselves waiting on the probate process before they can access funds, which can take months to resolve.

  4. One more perk of adding a beneficiary to your account:  You’ll increase the amount of funds that can be FDIC insured. Your individual accounts can be FDIC insured up to $250,000, and each qualifying POD can add another $250,000.

Please visit with our New Accounts representatives to check the status of your account and make any changes you see as necessary.

 

Article Categories: Articles